Alright so the jury is still out on whether local honey can cure mild, seasonal allergies, but no one can deny that it tastes better than filtered honey available at the supermarket. So why not pick up a pint of local honey, it helps your local economies, and it just might be a magic tonic for mild and seasonal dust, mold and pollen allergies. We think it is, but the scientific evidence is still out.
Recipes sometimes have as much to do with imagination as it is with flavor. A dish is more than a collection of ingredients. Ingredients come from food and food comes from somewhere. That somewhere may be in the snow or the sun may be a sign of a particular season, and more often than not that somewhere may show through in the final dish. Yet, with my cooking, as everything in life, I make comparisons and find it difficult to settle for second best. I like dishes that are the best—or, at least the best of what that dish can be. Hence, my life-long quest for adventures to find the best recipes and to replicate them in the kitchen, after days spent on the Sporting Road. Because ultimately, no one cares where the ingredients come from, whether they are flown half-way round the world or grown in your own back yard, it simply comes down to this—do I like this or not? Our friend in Paris pointed this out to me one time as I started to debate French pinot noirs with Californian ones. I was arguing that the French ones are better and pointing out the balance of fruitiness, acidity and chalkiness that the French traditionally strive for in Bordeaux wines, while American wine makers often emphasize only the fruitiness. He said he didn’t know enough about Californian Pinot Noirs to say. And, he said, “There is no argument, when it comes to matters of taste. Either you like it or you don’t? It doesn’t matter if you can explain why, it doesn’t make it taste any better.” Like with wine, food stuffs are affected by seasons, growing conditions, harvest times, the amount of water, the terroir,
Hank Shaw is an award-winning journalist and makes his debut from his blogger's guide to a book on foraging, fishing, hunting, simply entitled Hunt, Gather Cook--and makes the most of the fruits of a day spent gathering food in the field. His blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, has developed an avid following among outdoor people and foodies alike. Hank Shaw's blog, Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and which is more impressive than the book, can be found at: http://honest-food.net/ His poacher's blog, which is also worthy of mention, despite his bad-form tactics, can be found at: http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/
Excepted from an Interview with Nick de Toldi at www.gourmetfly.com There is only the need to buy the most prime and expensive cut of lamb for the sort of dishes such as Rack of Lamb or the famous "Baron d'agneau de Pauillac", a roast including the 2 legs and the "saddle" typically served at the prestige dinners of the wine chateaux beatween Margaux and Pauillac. But, I explained to Nick that in Colorado, we frequently encounter Basque sheepherders while hunting Dusky Grouse and Sharptailed Grouse here in September. And, their sheep are eating nearly a pure diet of sage brush, which is very strong-tasting. The mule deer that come from the mountains are very strong and gamey as a result of this same sage brush diet, as compared to our white-tailed deer which feed off of the farmer's grains of the plains. I compared this to our farrier who raises a special breed of lamb for the table and sells them by the whole or half. They are pricey, around $300 to have a whole one butchered and packed. He feeds them a special diet to have them fattened and the best tasting, and they are harvested while they are very young. He reiterated that for the slow braised dishes, you want the heartier and older lambs, while for the quickly cooked chops, you want the young corn-fed or grass-fed varieties.
I used to buy whatever canned tomatoes were on sale in from the grocer. Then I started to realize that tomatoes on the vine, never tasted the same from one to the other, so why should they in the can. And, tomatoes in Italy, never tasted anything like those grown in America, in part to their soil and in part to their seed. San Marzano, Italy, is like the Bordeaux region of tomatoes. But you need to be careful as there are tomatoes that are labeled San Marzano, but grown in the US - referring to the type of seed, not the location of growing. Whatever brand you buy, you need to make sure it's Denominazione di Origine Protetta certified, if you want to make sure it is from San Marzano. These Cento DOP Certified San Marzano tomatoes are the best that can be bought in the US, but cost nearly $5 for a 28 oz can, if you can find them. Cento has a San Marzano varietal that's non DOP, but grown in Italy, which sells for around $2.50for a 35 oz can. Then there's the "Italian Style" Cento's which are grown outside of Italy, maybe even in California, but are Italian style in that they are Roma tomatoes, and cost under $2.00 for a 28 oz can. We find a real difference in tasting the "Italian Style" Cento's to those made in Italy, and those made in Italy are worth the small extra cost. And if you can find them reasonably priced, the DOP Certified San Marzano are worth double the cost of the "made in Italy" tins,, as they are noticeably, however slightly, better. Simply put they are the best in canned tomatoes, if you can afford them, get them.
Have an Uncle Who’s Part Indian. I am not being cute or clever. My heritage is part Sioux Indian and there is something to be learned from our Native Americans when it comes to forest craft, it's not just all folk-lore. While Indians have a legendary reputation for being quieter and more stealthy in the woods, it's for good reason, but we could argue whether that is due to nature or nurture. Whatever the reason and if you weren't born with it, see what you can learn from someone skilled in this manner of stealthy stalking and it doesn’t matter if it is applied on big game or upland birds, it’s better than the alternative of bashing through the woods scaring every grouse out of the other end of it before you even step foot in the beginning of the other end of the woods. Better yet, adopt an "uncle" born or skilled in these crafts. Learn to shoot a shotgun and learn to shoot it well. We attended Buz Fawcett’s Wingshooting Workshop many times now, in efforts to become Master Shotgunners. If you hit what you can see and learn to shoot instinctively, you will be a better grouse hunter. Bring a picnic on the grouse moor. You never know when you will need fortitude from the elements or simply from your own psyche, if it's a less than stellar day. We always bring a French picnic, complete with some red wine, pate’ from birds gone by, cheese course, salad and other treats. Stuff enough shells in your bag, but not too many to begin to think you you have enough to afford to miss. My friend, Paul, grew up in rural Nebraska and his father was a professional assassin for coyotes and other predators, working for the National
Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world, behind only saffron. The sap of conifers and coal extracts, used to make artificial vanillas do not come close to competing with pure vanilla. Commercial vanilla extract (if pure and not of the artificial varieties) still usually has a base simple syrup added to the extract to give it sweetness. To make home-made vanilla extract, free of artificial ingredients and sweeteners: INGREDIENTS: 1 vanilla beans 1/3 cup vodka glass jar with tight-fitting lid INSTRUCTIONS: Use a sharp paring knife to cut lengthwise down each vanilla bean, splitting them in half, leaving an inch at the end connected, if your jar allows; otherwise this step is only important in ease of removing the extract without the bean, as you can simply sieve the extract upon pouring. Put vanilla beans in a glass jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid (small French mason jars work well). Cover completely with the vodka. Shake every once in a while. Store in the pantry, in a cool dark place, for 2 months or longer to allow the flavors to absorb into the alcohol. This lasts indefinitely. You can keep topping it off with vodka once in a while, if you wish to make it last longer, as the flavor will concentrate with age. Another favorite of preserving is vanilla sugar,which you make by putting a split vanilla bean into a jar of white, granulated sugar. You simply use the vanilla infused sugar and omit the addition of the extract in a recipe. One tablespoon of vanilla sugar has the flavoring power of 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Vanilla is native only to Central America it took until the 19th century to cultivate this orchid, in order to produce the vanilla pod (beans),which need to be pollinated by bees or hummingbirds. As
From August until October (or just really September and a week or so of October, at least here in the Wild West groceries stores--and, even then you may have to special order them), California figs are here in season, though occasionally you'll find them from other parts of the world, whether they be Black Mission, Brown Turkey, Calimyrna, Kadota, Sierra, or more exotic types. Figs have a bad reputation from their sisters, prunes, which are about as similar as a Chardonnay and a Port. We love figs, we hate prunes. In fact, prunes developed such a bad image, in part because the only decent dried prune is a Newton and in part due to the bad dried figs sent in Christmas baskets round the world, that the California growers have changed their names to "dried figs." American ingenuity and marketing skills at work, but a dried fig still tastes like a prune, which is nothing like a fig. Figs are delicate and therefore only keep refrigerated for 5-7 days, less unrefrigerated. Hence, the reluctance of groceries to keep them in stock, as they often rot before they sell and Americans have largely lost touch with what to do with them. We buy them buy the pallet when in their short season and simple arrange the ones we won't eat in a single layer on a pan and put in the freezer, transferring them to sealed freezer bags when frozen, keeping them in the freezer, for up to 6-12 months. Our favorite way to eat them is simply raw, slicing off the stem and tougher bottom skin. Serve on an antipasti platter, or simply with some French cheeses, fruits, and a baguette. Or, another favorite, try cutting a deep
Jeff and I started hunting together for blue grouse over twenty years ago. We met as young lawyers starting out in the same courtrooms together. I saw Jeff sitting in front of the bar, waiting for his case to be called, and he was trying to hide an issue of Shooting Sportsman inside of his client's file. We starting talking and I found out his father, Roger Hill, wrote one of my favorite books, Fly Fishing the South Platte. Jeff went on to say this was a blessing and a curse, as his father was a retired nuclear physicist and that he never got to enjoy soccer and things like that on the weekends, as his father simply left every weekend day saying, "I am going fishing [or shooting], do you want to come along?" There being no alternative except staying home alone, Jeff obliged and became a serious fly-tier, angler, and shooter of his own. We immediately started hunting together, a journey down the sporting road which lasted many years and which I hope will continue when he finds time away from his new family. His dog at the time was a hard-headed English Setter pup, which matched well in the field with my Britanny of field-trial lines who was on his first year afield. After many years of driving dirt roads and discovering dead ends on maps, we discovered the promised land of blue grouse together and promised to never divulge its location to any outsiders, or any other grouse covert we discovered together, for that matter, under threat of death or sending sultry clients to deal with such indiscretions. After one of our first days on the mountain in the shadows of the mountain, we found a
French mustard is nothing like american mustard, though the closest thing is perhaps American brown mustard, a bastardization of the English brown mustard and really nothing like the French ones. Oh sure, we have the Grey Poupon, made famous by the posh-teasing commercials of my childhood and I don't think anyone doesn't know the phase, "Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" But the truth is, Grey Poupon, isn't really that posh, nor very good, as far as French mustards go anyway. The much more flavorful ones are not pulverized like the typical Grey Poupon and are whole grain, in France. We prefer these ones for serving on their own, with something like pâté. We find the best ones to be Vilux, which is brown mustard if you can find it in specialty stores, which is sweeter and more full-bodied than the Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard, and we also like any of the whole seed mustards, including the ones by Grey Poupon, such as their Country Dijon or Harvest Course Ground mustards. Shawn's Recipe for Home Made Mustard Le Parfait french canning jars or use a Mason jar 12 ounces of stout beer 1 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 c. brown mustard seed 1/2 c. yellow mustard seed 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 t. nutmeg 1/4. cinnamon 1/4 t. allspice 1/4 t. ground cardamom Place in mason jar and cover with wrap for 48 hours then place in a food processor for 3 minutes. Place in jars and it's good to eat the next day. Keeps for six months in the fridge.
