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Sesame-Buckwheat Noodles with Fresh Green Almonds
Appetizers Asian Pasta Salads Sauces & Condiments

Sesame-Buckwheat Noodles with Fresh Green Almonds

One of our favorite spring ingredients, fresh green almonds, are just that – green (as in “unripe”) almonds, picked while the nut is immature and still in the early stages of formation. Green almonds are available only in the spring, usually beginning in late March or early April, and can continue to be harvested into May. In the earliest stages of growth, the entire almond is eaten, fuzzy green outer hull and all. The flavor is surprising; tart, almost citrusy, somewhat reminiscent …

Spaghetti with Ramp Butter and Morel Mushrooms
Mushrooms Pasta Wild Foods

Spaghetti with Ramp Butter and Morel Mushrooms

Many of our favorite wild foods seem to appear all at once in the early spring, which can make it hard to appreciate each one adequately. A practical way to enjoy the season’s abundance is to combine several of them together into a single dish. Another is to preserve the fresh flavors of the spring wild harvest so they can be enjoyed all year round. This dish does both. The flavor and texture of the morel is well known, and these unique, …

Appetizers Tips and Techniques Vegetables

Roasting Fresh Chestnuts (Open Fire Not Required)

  Everybody knows that song about “chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” right?  Well, if you have a special chestnut pan you really can roast them over an open fire. Your chestnut pan will have holes in the bottom and a long handle so that you can hold it over an open fire at a comfortable distance. Don’t have a chestnut pan?  Not to worry – you can still easily and successfully roast fresh chestnuts, with no open fire required! There are …

Korean Seafood Jjigae
Asian Seafood Soups & Stews

Warm Up with Spicy Seafood Jjigae, Hearty Korean-style Seafood Stew

  Think of this savory stew as a sort of spicy Korean bouillabaisse. It’s based on the kind of traditional, home-style soup that’s a staple in Korean households. We’ve perhaps taken a few liberties with the ingredients, but we’d like to think that our version is still true to the spirit of the original recipe. This is the kind of warming soup that’s just the ticket for a cold, raw & rainy afternoon. It’s also a soup that’s perfect for …

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 …

Two pizzettas, just off the grill
Appetizers Breads & Baked Goods

Grilled Pizzettas with Fire-roasted Tomatoes and Barolo Salami

As the seasons move from spring towards summer, the very thought of cooking and heating up the house becomes less and less appealing. Grilling is the perfect solution, but you can’t live on hot dogs, burgers and barbecued chicken forever. The answer? Grilled pizzettas. The dough is easy to make; the pizzas are small enough so everyone can have their own, and the toppings need little preparation. Best of all, there’s practically nothing to clean up. Grilled pizzettas are different from regular …

Meat

Grilled Lamb Chops with Fresh Mint

These grilled lamb rib chops are perfect for a quick, yet elegant meal. Prep them first thing in the morning (or even the night before), and you’ll have dinner on the table in 15 minutes or less. Lamb, considered a traditional spring dish, is generally harvested at 3 – 5 months of age, so that “spring” lamb was actually probably born in the fall. Americans tend to prefer milder-flavored meats, so it’s no surprise that lamb is much more popular than mutton, …

Poultry Sauces & Condiments Vegetables

Honey Butter-Glazed Chicken with Radishes

The radish is a vegetable that is typically consumed fresh, at least in this country. But in many culinary traditions, radishes are eaten both fresh and cooked. Daikon, the long, white Asian radish, is an important ingredient in many traditional soups, stews and other cooked dishes, in addition to being eaten fresh or preserved in a pickled form. Like other members of the Brassicaceae family, the flavor of radishes is earthy and pungent, frequently bordering on downright spicy. Cooking tends to …

Meat Mushrooms Wild Foods

Pan-fried Sausages with Dark Beer and Porcini Mushrooms

Summer isn’t even over yet, but with Labor Day weekend upon us, there’s already a little bit of fall in the air. Shadows are growing longer, nights are cooler and soon, instead of picnicking, we’ll be tailgating. There’s another September tradition worth mentioning: Oktoberfest, the German celebration of beer and all the wonderful food that accompanies it. Everyone loves Oktoberfest. Who doesn’t enjoy drinking beer and eating sausages?  (Not that we really need an excuse.) But why is Oktoberfest celebrated …