Why? Because you can! And pickle, and jam, or otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear. Put on your best apron and step into our kitchen, won't you?
Yes you can harvest your spruce's needles! Gather the tender young tips in the spring and enjoy a delightful lemony tea. Medicinally valuable and darn tasty too!
Cured egg yolks are the perfect end to those Easter eggs. Grate them over salads, pasta or avocado toast. They're a great substitute for expensive bottarga.
Spring is finally here! In my hous that means it's time to cure up a smoked ham. Black ham is cured with cane syrup or molasses which turns the crust black from caramelization during smoking.
Chef-owner Bruce Kalman of Pasadena's Union infuses the vinegar with serrano chiles, then pours the cooled brine over perfectly shaved vegetables. Mustard seed and, of course, a little bit of dried oregano give it extra oomph.
Mulberry season has come earlier and earlier the past couple years to my yard, which means my canning season begins now! One of my favorite mulberry recipes is jam with balsamic vinegar and rapadura sugar, with deep colors and intense flavors.
The other week I went home with a whopping 2-pound bag of Virginia peanuts, so I made a batch of homemade peanut butter in the food processor. The end result was an intensely nutty and fresh spread nothing like the kind from a jar.
Basic technique for making compound butter with several ideas for herb and spice combination. Use compound butters on meat, vegetables, fish, pasta, pancakes, waffles, any ol' thang!
Marmalade is something I embraced after taking a class up in Oakland at The Still Room. Kumquat is now my favorite. These tiny little sugar tart-a-lish balls make a killer marmalade.
