In the world of wild mushrooms, chicken of the woods is pretty special. It’s striking, bright orange, and easy to ID, sure, but the flavor might the most unique thing about it. I’ve cut large, young chickens off a tree and had them gush orange juice down my arms as I cut–not the average experience…
Pasta
Wild Rice Flour Pasta Dough
Wild rice flour pasta dough is exactly what it sounds like: fresh pasta dough, made with wild rice flour. Not 100% wild rice flour, just 50%, since that’s about the most you can work into fresh pasta and still have it act like fresh pasta while you’re rolling it out, since wild rice flour lacks…
Andy’s Morel and Ramp Spaghetti
Just about every year I try to get out and hunt a few morels with my old chef, friend and mentor Chef Andy Lilja, former Chef de Cuisine of Heartland, Executive Chef of il Vesco Vino, I Nonni, and many others. We usually try to get permission to hunt some land near Frontenac that reliably…
Ramp Leaf-Goat Cheese Dumplings
Where the hell did all this cream cheese come from?! Maybe someone forgot to check something off the list they ordered, maybe someone hit a wrong button, maybe the driver was new and he had no idea that the regular par was cut in half for the week–I’ve seen it all. After the person doing…
Wild Herb Gnudi Dumplings
A number of years ago I was contacted by a company in Australia to make a few recipes for an e-book on sustainable eating. The first thing I shared with them was this simple recipe for gnudi dumplings made from ramp leaves, which, as far as ethical eating goes, are basically the poster child for…
Ramp Leaf Pasta Dough(s)
Everyone loves green noodles–including me, which is why there’s at least 3 different variations of them already on this site. Ramp leaf noodles needed to happen though, but, unlike other green and colored pastas, I had a vision for the noodles to actually taste like the ingredient used to make them, which, to be honest,…
Venison Heart Bolognese
I love coming up with creative ways to introduce people to eating offal, and venison heart Bolognese is one of my new favorites. Many recipes don’t, especially those designed for Americans, gut my Bolognese (as I was taught by my chef from Rome, Angelo) always incorporates a little bit of offal, typically chicken liver, but…
Double Mushroom Ravioli
A few years ago I got a request from a reader to make “double mushroom ravioli” or ravioli with dried mushrooms in the dough and filling. I spent a few days tweaking a couple batches, but, as luck will have it, I accidentally selected something wrong and named the images incorrectly, which meant they ended…
Capellini With Fairy Ring Mushroom Sauce
Less is more here: a simple recipe for the delicious, yard loving fairy ring mushroom. There’s just something about how angel hair pasta soaks up a little sauce like this, the small size of the mushrooms is perfect for a noodle like this too. Yellowfoot chanterelles would make a great substitute, too. A simple, delicious…
Chicken Fat Bolete Caramelle
2018 update Forgive me for the silly plating, I, like a lot of chefs, I went through a paint brush stage. It’s much cleaner to spread dollops of the celery root sauce out with a spoon or ladle. Italian food was what drew me into the kitchen in the first place. Story goes that I…
Buttercup Squash Ravioli with Hickory Nuts and Birch Syrup
One of the things I wanted to show off on a menu for a recent event was hickory nut oil. The dish changed a bit as I developed the flavors in the rest of the courses, but it seemed like the only place I could sneak the oil in, so I was resolved not to…
Fresh Spaghetti with Colatura and Waterleaf
Quick recipe here to compliment the post I have on making garum on my fishing trip in Ontario that was getting a little wordy. If you know someone that makes garum (I have a friend who make barrels of the stuff in Duluth out of local crayfish) or you’ve shelled out some coin to buy…
Lobster Mushroom Bolognese
When I was dreaming up of what to make for my dinner with the writers of Untamed Mushrooms to celebrate their book release, I knew I wanted to do a few courses of mine and a course or two inspired by the book. If you’re a mushroom hunter and you haven’t grabbed a copy order one and…