Summer wild mushroom varieties have finally started to show up in my next of the woods. The first thing I made this year was a riff on one of my favorite shareable wild mushroom appetizers. It’s basically a giant pile of sauteed mushrooms with whipped cheese and a sprinkle of pickled ramps you smear over…
Appetizers
Steamed Milkweed Buds
Milkweed flower buds were one of the first wild foods I harvested, and steaming them has become one of my favorite milkweed recipes. But, before you go out and gather a bunch, there’s a few things to know to make sure you have the best experience. If you’re new to eating this plant, it’s important to…
Pickled Lampascioni Recipes (Hyacinth bulbs)
Pickled hyacinth bulbs, known as lampascioni, flavored with herbs, garlic and chili, are one of the most interesting antipasti I’ve had. After I got some of the actual species of hyacinth that foragers cook in Italy, the first thing I did was try out some traditional recipes. Mostly these are pickled, or preserved in oil…
Cheremsha: Siberian-Style Fermented Ramp Leaves
Cheremsha, also known as Tjeremsha and Черемша are a wild allium used to make one of the most interesting traditional foods I’ve tasted to date. Essentially, you can think of them as lacto-fermented ramp leaves, although the traditional plant used to make the ferment is Allium victorialis-the victory onion, reputed to have been brought to…
Huitlacoche Elotes
Huitlacoche elotes, or corn brushed with black mushroom puree with cheese and hot chili is my heartfelt, smutty love letter to Mexican street food and mushrooms. Sweet corn season is in full swing here in the Midwest: stands filled with green spears of golden kernels dot the roadsides, parking lots of neighborhood watering holes, private…
Traditional Mexican Huitlacoche Quesadilla
A simple quesadilla with huitlacoche / corn mushrooms / corn smut is probably a contender for one of the best quesadillas I’ve had, especially if you’re new to cooking with huitlacoche, or, you like it and you want to sneak it into a meal to convert people. A traditional meat substitute Huitlacoche is a traditional…
Huitlacoche Choriqueso
Choriqueso, the ultra-rich appetizer/dish of chorizo sausage baked with cheese or cheese sauce on top is good on its own, but it’s incredible with huitlacoche / corn mushrooms thrown in the mix. It’s a really unique appetizer for feeding a crowd, and a great way to introduce people to huitlacoche. Grated cheese or sauce? Order…
Wild Fennel Green Cakes
Wild fennel is one of the most invasive plants I’ve ever seen, growing in massive stands on the West Coast. It’s similar to your garden variety fennel, looking near identical, but with one big difference: there’s not really a bulb. Wild fennel cakes are one of the best things I’ve made with them, and, unlike…
