Stinging nettles are really delicious, but before consuming it is important to take out the sting.  The key to neutralizing the stinging agent is to use moist heat (either blanching or steaming) to lightly cook them before touching or consuming them.  Once the the sting is gone, fresh stinging nettles can be used in salads, nettle pesto, ravioli …

Blanching fiddlehead ferns allows them to be frozen better or used in quick-cooking preparations (en papiotte, sautéed, etc) where they wouldn’t otherwise have enough time to cook. Directions:  1.  Trim the brown parts off the cut ends. 2.  Discard any fiddleheads where the inside of the coil is very dark/black.  Note: Any slightly-purplish fiddlehead stems are …

This sauce tastes of sweet, musky huckleberries, piney, resinous sage, and rich chicken stock. It pairs deliciously with venison, duck, wild boar, elk…almost any game meat or game bird.  Ingredients: 1/2lb Huckleberries (either fresh huckleberries or frozen huckleberries) 1-2 Sage Leaves 1 cup low salt/unsalted Chicken Stock (homemade chicken stock would be even better) 1 …

This clear, comforting soup is filled with goodies for your spoon to find. Chunks of parmigiano rind (yes, it’s edible!), fregola sarda (a toasted Italian couscous), Italian sausage, and diced nettles are all in your bowl waiting for you. If your grocery store doesn’t offer extra parmigiano rind for soups at their cheese counter, ask …

Fresh stinging nettles are only in season in the spring, which means that if you want to enjoy them and their nutritional benefits year round you need to preserve them.  Much of the below is inspired by a recent foraging trip led by Langdon Cook.  Thanks, Langdon, for making our life a little more delicious. Here are the …

Because wild ramps aren’t a vegetable that many people have encountered before, we thought we’d publish a simple tutorial to getting them ready to eat.  How to Clean Ramps: 1.  Rinse ramps under cool running water. 2.  Discard any tough, over-large leaves unless your recipe involves pureeing. (They offer a lot of flavor, but can be …

While you have to briefly blanch stinging nettles before eating them in order to remove their sting, you’re not washing their acid into the blanching water.  Instead you’ve actually disarming it completely.  After the blanch both the nettle leaves and the blanching water are completely safe to consume.  Not only that, but the blanching liquid has …

Ramps (wild leeks) and potatoes are a match made in heaven.  Here’s a quick and easy way to take a humble baked potato and amp it up with one of the best wild flavors Mother Nature has to offer. Ingredients:                                 (Makes 3 Servings) 1/4lb Fresh Ramps, cleaned (How to Clean Ramps) 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter 2 tbsp Heavy Cream 3 …

Here we’re using ramps (wild leeks) in place of both the herbs and the garlic in pesto. It’s gorgeous, it’s got a really strong (delicious!) ramp flavor, but it doesn’t have much bite or spice because the ramps’ zing smoothes into the oil & cheese’s richness. Drink Pairings: Chablis or Bonarda from Argentina Ingredients: 1lb …

While miner’s lettuce and fresh morels are associated with Spring in the Pacific Northwest, in the Northeast they look forward to the arrival of delicious wild ramps or fiddlehead ferns.  If you like the flavor of onions, leeks, and scallions, these are the wild vegetables for you! Smoky, herby, and oniony, grilled ramps bring tremendous flavor to the table and …