HCP Dishes!
Pe$to
Tuesday, August 31, 2010Tomorrow, the Chicago Tribune will publish a story on the rising cost of pine nuts. It turns out that lower crop yields in the U.S. and China have combined to make pine nuts even pricier than usual. And they’re not too cheap to begin with.
With basil flourishing this time of year, one of the best late summer dishes is, of course, pesto. But pine nuts are a key ingredient in pesto. Now, I know there are a lot of good variations on the traditional recipe: it can be made with parsley or another flavorful herb; almonds or other nuts; and pecorino Romano, or really any salty and crumbly cheese, in place of parmesan. Even a nut-based oil, say walnut, would probably work instead of olive oil.
But I find it’s hard to replace pine nuts in pesto and get the same quality. Last weekend, I tried substituting walnuts. The result? Eh. I...
Wild Foraged Chocolate Spread
Friday, August 27, 2010Naturalist Steve Brill has foraged for nearly everything forageable—even chocolate. Well, sort of.
On a recent summer hike with blogger Danielle Sucher of Habeas Brulee, Steve “The Wildman” Brill noticed some Kentucky coffee trees along their path. Danielle writes that “the Wildman pointed out the seed pods on the ground, and told us that the seeds could be roasted and used as a tasty caffeine-free coffee substitute.”
After roasting the foraged seeds, Danielle shelled them and ground the innards in a coffee grinder. She then added water, agave nectar, and salt to the powder and blended it until smooth, making a Nutella-like spread. She plans to make crepes topped with sour cream and the wild foraged chocolate spread. Sounds like Sunday brunch to me.
Bread-and-Butters Her Way
Tuesday, August 24, 2010Yesterday, The Kitchn posted this question from one of its readers: “Can you recommend a book that will guide me very clearly through the essentials of pickling?” Suggestions trickled in, and one of the books most often recommended was Linda Ziedrich’s The Joy of Pickling.
One reader commented: “The Joy of Pickling is the best. I borrowed the book from the library so often that I finally bought it when the new edition came out. I use it at least twice a week…a wonderful book!”
And another wrote: “The Joy of Pickling is chock-full of information, all presented in well-organized, easy-to-understand prose that is so engaging that I sometimes read it just for fun (although to be fair I do this with a lot of recipe books). It’s an excellent resource that really demystified the canning process for me. I highly recommend it.”
It’s great to see Linda’s book helping people preserve the summer bounty. Personally,...
