If you harvest your own fruit–any kind of fruit–you know how many leftover skins, seeds, pits, cooked stuff, raw stuff, and all kinds of other things are leftover from processing. So much scrap, from so much good fruit. If you’re anything like me, you may have wondered if there’s anything you can do with it….
Elderberry
Wild Grape, Aronia, or Elderberry BBQ (Spicy!)
I love gathering fruit, especially wild fruit I can extract juice from like wild grapes, aronia berries, and elderberries. After the hustle and bustle of harvesting, when it comes time to use up what I’ve put away, I know I’ll make a few jellies and other preserves, but there’s always a part of me that…
Wild Rice Crepes with Elderberry Syrup, Apples and Black Walnuts
Back at Lucia’s I used to come up with a different brunch every week, along with lunch, and the dinner menu. With such intense recipe generation, you’re bound to have a few hits and misses, and it can take some time to dial things in, especially if you’re working with new line cooks. Here and…
Sweet and Sour Chokeberry or Elderberry Syrup
Lately the chokeberries / aronia berries have been floating around the brunch menu, but I often like to have my pastry chef use them on different desserts, they might be mixed together with other fruits like apples, other berries, really whatever we have on hand that will make a good partner. The berries are great…
Boar Ribs With Elderberry Glaze
Some interesting foods can be a harder sell than others, but boar will never be one of them. I’d chalk it up to the long history of Americans eating pork-boar sounds like a wild, exciting version of a meat many already know and love. Flavor wise, all boars aren’t created unique though. Like a lot…
Sharptail Grouse With Prosciutto and Elderberry Vinegar Sauce
Seems like each year innevitably a friend of a friend of a friend contacts me wondering if I want pheasants to cook with since they filled their limit.. After they bring by some birds I process them and bring them to my home, since it’s not exactly legal to sell game you’ve shot where I…
Duck Liver-Crab Apple Mousse, With Elderberry Jelly
If you’re a hunter of wild things, there’s a natural habit you get into: you keep going back to the places you know where things grow you like, since you can count on it. If you’re like me, your time is precious, and you want to make the most of it. This year, I didn’t…
Elderberry Jelly
I brought on one of my favorite purveyors into the Salt Cellar this year for two things only: heirloom potatoes and elderberries. Granted I can get basic potatoes from other places, and I can pick elderberries myself, but getting enough elderberries to supply a restaurant is a big project. With the elderberries, I preserved them…