Wild rice is a source of cultural pride in Minnesota where I’m from. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation about it online and in print. It’s time I had a guide on here about one of the most important ingredient of my region, so, I’m going to try and answer all the questions I can…
Wild Rice
Chicken of the Woods Wild Rice Casserole
It’s getting colder outside, and I’m starting to crave that cold weather food. Stews and braises have happened already happened, but one thing that’s been gnawing at me was a good, solid casserole. Coming from the Midwest, I have casserole in my blood, and there’s nothing like the classic chicken wild rice casserole laced with…
Wild Rice Crackers
I’ve been wanting a simple, wild-inspired cracker I can make to serve at events that’s portable, made from 100% wild rice or another indigenous grain, and most of all, is a snap to put together and doesn’t involve rolling out glutinous dough or using a pasta roller. I used to make a sort of Japanese…
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…
Turkey Wild Rice Soup with Black Trumpets
As far as food is concerned, the main course for holidays will change here and there. One year it’s a ham for Christmas, the next year we’ll smoke a prime rib. One thing that’s constant is somewhere along the line there’s probably turkey at one of the gatherings I’ll attend, either for my girlfriend’s family…
Wild Rice Polenta
Wild rice polenta. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, you name it. This stuff is great, and it cooks in a fraction of the time typical wild rice does. It started with a farmer that ran a CSA that would bring me goodies once and a while when dropping off his boxes of veggies: a couple sunchokes…
Grouse Wild Rice with Wild Mushrooms
While I was up north hunting matsutake last week, I completely forgot that I was going to be hunting at the same time as grouse season opener. As I walked on the trails I’d charted, it seemed like every 30 minutes or so I’d inadvertently flush a few birds. After two birds made me jump…
Wild Rice Flour Crusted Sunfish
I love keeping a little bit of wild rice flour around for projects here and there. There’s a lot of gluten-free flours out there, but none that I’ve come across that pack quite the flavor punch of wild rice flour, amaranth flour coming in a close second. I don’t use wild rice flour specifically because…
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…
Wood Parched Wild Rice, Black Walnuts, Wild Herbs and Green Garlic
Here’s another one of my favorite dishes that I developed for the dinner at Piney Hill this year for Slow Food Minnesota’s “Where the Wild Things Are Dinner” which showcases local, wild ingredients. I knew we needed some sort of starch to help complete our meal, and for a whole bunch of people it needed…
Slippery Jack Gnudi, Ramps, Wild Rice, And Nettles
Here’s a great recipe I donated to the non profit cookbook for the Cascade Mycological Society of Oregon. They were looking for recipes featuring slippery jacks, as well as a couple other underused species, like Lactarius. I’ve fought off Eastern European grandmothers a’plenty here in Minnesota for them, so you bet I have plenty of…
Squab With Gooseberries And Chanterelle Wild Rice
It’s definitely summertime, the chanterelles are up, and fruit is starting to come in. Blackcap berries and raspberries have been making fun treats on my morning walks, as well as the occasional wild grape. There are plenty of fruity treats around, but a fun, and relatively obscure one is the gooseberry. Gooseberries are cool…
Chestnut Stuffing With Apples, Bacon, And Sage
Thanksgiving is fast approaching, pretty soon everyone will gather with their families and sit down to a giant meal full of all the trimmings, turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and no Thanksgiving feast could be complete without a giant bowl of stuffing. Digging into my archaic culinary library over the years has shown me lots about…