Nettle-Mushroom Pie with Pine Nuts

All this cold rain has the nettles taking their sweet time, but in my spot, they’re up a little. They’re up enough, anyway, about three nodes or so, and I snip off the top two and slip them in my bag. Zephyr whines from his …

Corned Beef Reuben

A day late and a dollar short, as always. I decided to try my hand at corning so I could participate in Charcutepalooza this month, but I forgot that I was supposed to post this on the 15th. Oops. It’s cool, though, I didn’t really …

Vanilla-Lavender Lemon Curd

Lemon curd. Oh, is this ever a Thing. How have I lived this long without making my own? Creamy-custardy, tart-sweet lemony, and my touch: vanilla-lavendery. To make a batch big enough for canning, I quadrupled this basic recipe: cream together 3 eggs and 1/3 cup …

Teach a Man to Fish

Our piscine friend the albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) A few years ago I bought my first whole albacore, directly from a fisherman on a dock in Astoria. It was $1.50/lb., and I was cavalier and cocky in my purchase, insisting then that I could handle …

Foodbuzz 24×24: Yes We Can – Food Preservation for the Modern Palate

Now that summer is winding toward its long-lit end, our minds shift toward the harvest. Anyone with a patch of dirt is likely up to their ears in a plenitude of homegrown produce, and this overabundance can daunt the timid. What do you do with …

Elk Chili

I have the good fortune of having been born into a family of prolific hunters (read: unemployed men with guns).  My dad uses this as currency, bartering venison for visits with his grandson. He can never simply tell me he wants to see Zephyr. Instead, …

Blueberry-Yogurt Coffee Cake

The Great Northwest is famous for many foods, and while hazelnuts and salmon usually come to mind as the obvious meibutsu, we also grow spectacular berries. Among them, Vacciniums – huckleberries, cranberries and blueberries – are Queen. These Ericaceous lovelies, to which my namesake heather …

Jarhead

Summer: that time of year when we industrious ant-types toil and moil while our carefree grasshopper-type counterparts chirp and sing. As our blasé friends go rafting and camping, we busily tend our crops, gather from the excesses of others and put it all up for …

Grilled Sockeye with Blue Cheese Grits & Greens

Summer’s been a long time coming in Portland this year. We didn’t even break 80 degrees until after the 4th of July, I think. I really haven’t been complaining, I actually like it lukewarm and cloudy. But now, friends, now we have something to really …

Bratwurst bierock with aqvavit mustard and Gruyère Mornay

The other day I was having a fierce hanker for soft pretzels with spicy mustard. The ones you get in the freezer section of even nicer stores like New Seasons are just fucking abysmal – dry, salty cardboard carbohydrate, salvageable only with copious cheese sauce. …