A few weeks ago I was walking through the garden picking squash blossoms when I saw these little curly-cue guys here and there in the squash and pumpkin patches. There was a dialogue in my brain that went like this: The squash is growing on a vine Peas grow on a vine I eat peas,…
Garden
Winter Radish-Ramp Preserves / Retach mit Shmaltz
I’m not Jewish, but they’re masters of doing interesting things with poultry lard, and I love duck fat. This is one of those under the radar-cultural specialties people get flushes of memories from, or so the stories go. You might find it in an old delicatessen, or place that sells things like gribenes, and gefilte…
Pumpkin Butternut Squash
Recently I was watching the chef’s table, a really great series on Netflix. It’s a couple episodes focusing on some ground breaking chefs and the work they do. The episode I was watching that really piqued my interest was on Dan Barber, the chef/owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns Farm. One…
Lily Bulbs
Last fall I was driving home from a video shoot with my photographer friend Chris Bohnhoff and I stopped in a town to get some gas and a cup of coffee. While drinking my coffee on a bench, I noticed a sign and a bunch of dirt filled boxes in a ratty looking lawn across…
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Pickled Chanterelles and Ramp Leaf Oil
I never thought something as simple as making a salad could remind me of why I cook in the first place. I cook for a living, but before I made money doing it, I just lived to cook. Making things in the kitchen was my creative outlet, and made people around me happy. Ever since…
Nasturtium Leaves And Flowers
Lots of chefs like to garnish things with flowers, they’re pretty, but often that’s about it. We eat with our eyes though, and I if there’s an edible flower I can eat, or serve, it’s going on the menu. Nasturtiums though? They’re a completely different story. Nasturtiums are not only beautiful, but are edible,…
Lemon Balm
What incredible tasting herb needs to be on your to bucket list? Lemon balm. There’s only one problem, I find it’s hard to come across wild, compared to the ubiquitous bergamot and elusive peppermints in the areas I hunt in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I know of only one place where it grows, and it’s pretty…
Celtuce
With it’s beautiful emerald green color, crisp and refreshing texture, with delicious, mild, and faintly nutty taste and smell, Celtuce is the best vegetable you’re not eating. What the heck is it? Well, besides from resembling a strange green wand, often with runty little lettuce leaves on top, celtuce is what I’d describe as a…
Peas With Porcini, Proscuitto, And Radish Snaps
This recipe came about after I talked to my friend Jess Flemming, food writer for the St. Paul Pioneer press. Jess and I met last year when she did a piece on the restaurant I was working at. Jess recently dedicated a piece of flesh to pork: she agreed to get a tattoo of the…
Romanesco Broccoli
My old chef Andy put me in charge of making a risotto special that constantly changed with whatever his crazy connections would provide us. That was the first time I cooked with romanesco, or ate it for that matter. Sure you can put romanesco in risotto, and that’s how I first cooked it, but it’s…