Ā Wild Bites #28: a 4-minute read that makes you smarter about wild food and tells you what's to come on the website, podcast, YouTube, orĀ To The Bone. Ā Ā ~ Hank Ā Kokanee ready to smoke, grill or pickle. Ā Here's what's trendingĀ on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: - Chanterelle mushrooms are starting to appear in the East and Midwest, so the time is right for my French chanterelle soup. It's so lux it's like sex in a bowl...
- For those of you in the West, kokanee season is here, and these little, land-locked sockeye salmon are fantastic eating, Here's my primer on how to cook kokanee. And for you
saltwater types, here's how to cook bonito, that pesky little tuna you're always catching...
- Back East, blue crabs are arriving, which is perfect for my old school Italian spaghetti with crab sauce. It's a family recipe that works with any crab.
- Driving all over the country like I do, I am seeing wild peas in flower everywhere. You might think they're poisonous. They're not. Here's the real deal on wild peas.Ā
- It's finally hot enough for purslane to start overrunning our gardens. Here's a guide to identifying
purslane, as well as great ways to eat this wonderful weed.Ā
Moving up the list: Fluke are biting in the East, California halibut in the West, and flounder in the Gulf. That means you'll want to make my family recipe for fried flounder. We've been frying flatfish this way for a generation, and I swear by this recipe. Freshwater angler? Use this same recipe for walleye fillets. Love these or any of my recipes? Please rate them while you're there so people searching for recipes know they're worth clicking on! Ā 2. Smart Take: Making Cheese at Home is Easier than You ThinkMaking cheese at home is not hard.Ā Ā I was always intimidated by making cheese at home. I got all hung up on complex, aged cheeses like cheddar or pecorino or Roquefort. And yeah, those are hard to make well. But there's a whole world of easier cheeses you really can make at home, sometimes in an hour.Ā Ā Claudia Lucero of Urban Cheesecraft in Portland, Oregon, breaks it all
down in my latest episode of Hunt Gather Talk. We chat about home cheesemaking in general, and talk through a few simple cheeses you can make today, with no special equipment -- it's a super cool feeling to know you can just go to the market, come home, and make a great fresh
cheese.Ā 3. Salmon and Trout are Here!Seared salmon with a fresh, light cucumber sauce. Ā Salmon and trout are here! My friends in Alaska are already catching them commercially, and I am seeing people catch trout all over the country. This is also a "pink year," meaning the gigantic pink salmon runs are due in the Pacific Northwest. And let's not forget that there's excellent salmon and rainbow trout fishing in the Great Lakes, too.Ā Ā Both fish are versatile in the kitchen, and since they share so many traits (they're biological cousins), I've collected a huge selection of salmon and trout recipes for you to have some fun with.Ā Ā Start with smoked salmon and smoked trout, but you really owe it to yourself to stretch a bit this weekend with, say, salmon with cucumber sauce (pictured above) or trout with saffron.Ā 4. Taking Stock of Things...Ā Solstice has come and gone, and with it, I took a chance to stop and think and at least try to start figuring things out. For those of you who may not know, Holly and I split this year, and I have been a nomad ever since. Being a nomad has
been wearing on me, and I realized that I've been running from thing to thing, and not sitting to take stock of the maelstrom that's my life.Ā Ā When I did, I realized that my dilemma is universal: Momentum is not a universally positive force, and sometimes it needs to be broken. I write about this in all aspects of our lives -- business, romance, Big Life
Decisions -- in my latest essay on To the Bone.Ā Ā If you like what you read, I'd be grateful if you would consider subscribing to it. You can start
subscribing for free, and upgrade to paid if you want to support my work. Thanks in advance for considering it.Ā Ā Ā Spain! I just got back from Spain with my brother Fred, and it was an amazing trip. We were in Madrid and San Sebastian, in Basque Country, and ate All The Things. I plan on writing a lot about my experiences, food and otherwise, over at To the Bone, and you'll
see some new Spanish recipes on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook soon, too.Ā Ā I'm now in Salt Lake City, one of my three finalists for a landing spot; Kansas City and the Twin Cities in Minnesota are the others. I am hoping to maybe find a home in one of these places soonish -- being a nomad has been hard on
me.Ā Ā That said, I'll be traveling a lot still because, well, I can't help myself. Next week I'll be way up in British Columbia at the Halcyon Hot Springs Resort.
They've asked me to come up, look around, gather wild plants, maybe fish, and then cook a special dinner on July 6. If you happen to be anywhere near there, it's open to the public. Ā After that, I'll be down in Todos Santos in Baja Sur, Mexico. Nothing public there, but if you'll be around, look me up and maybe we'll share a cerveza... Ā Ā Comments?Let us know what you think aboutĀ Wild BitesĀ by using our anonymous comment form - we love to hear from you, and we read every single comment. If you have a question, fire away and be sure to share your email address so we can respond. Ā |
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