by the handful

Nutritious culinary and healing recipes collected from the North American garden, orchard, forest, river and ocean

Archive for the category “Uncategorized”

A Better Vegetable Stock

Vegetable stocks frequently come out dull and flavorless. This recipe attempts to remedy some of the missteps that prevent these veggies from reaching their full potential. Unlike a meat based stock that would be covered and cooked for hours, this recipe is cooked much quicker as the volume of liquid reduces to concentrate the flavor. The most important ingredient in a vegetable stock is anything from the onion (allium) family as this is where much of the flavor will come from. Read more…

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Lavender Tea

Teas made with fresh herbs and spices often tend to come out a little weak. Once dried however, these ingredients are much more prone to releasing their flavors and properties when emulsified in liquid. The trick to rendering the flavors out of fresh herbs is to first agitate them before infusing. In some cases, grinding or a pestle and mortar can work but for this tea all that’s needed is to simply chop up the blossoms a little. Read more…

Spring Scorched Vegetables

DSCN0619Sometimes it’s nice to have limited ingredient choices as this helps to direct the creation of a recipe. Here I use almost everything that’s ready in my early spring garden this year. Although every fruit is a perennial plant, only a few vegetables are, asparagus being an exception. Read more…

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted cauliflower may not be one of those foods you have a craving for but it just might be once you try roasting it. I roast vegetables of all kinds but for some reason I did not figure to roast cauliflower for a long time. At this point countless heads of cauliflower have been consumed by my kids over the years thanks to this simple method. Read more…

Purple Varnish Clam Chowder

Clam Chowder is not typically made with fresh clams (too expensive) however if you are able to gather a whole bunch of clams straight from the beach why not take advantage. You probably either eat whole clams dipped in butter or in clam chowder as bits n’ pieces that came from a can. In the recipe, hopefully the best of both worlds is exactly what we are doing here. Read more…

Winter Pesto

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This pesto is really tasty on a variety of foods. Just a dollop on salmon, pasta, vegetables, asparagus etc really adds a lot of fresh flavor.  In the middle of winter this recipe was one of few ideas I could come up with and it really is a good way to make something out of nothing.   Read more…

Pumpkin Gnocchi

Okay, so I don’t make gnocchi all that often. They are well… pretty darn good but I am not always in the mood to put in the effort it takes to prepare them. They really are not all that much work honestly but there are usually better ideas that are more worthwhile. I am a huge fan however of fall flavor and I use pumpkin quite a bit and am always looking for a creative way to work it into common dishes. Read more…

Angler’s Chop Salad

photo (2)Catching a trout is a right of passage for anyone growing up in the Northwest. Like salmon, they are delicious fresh as well as smoked. Whether you catch fish yourself, buy at the market, or have an angler friend there is no doubt that fish is easy to acquire in the Northwest. Read more…

Tricked-Out Heirloom Tomato Salad

The time frame to enjoy your own garden or farmer’s market tomatoes is very short so there is no time to mess around. I think a tomato salad is just about the best way to properly dispose of large quantities of one of the all time best garden items.  Read more…

Forest Kissed Cedar Plank Salmon

One of my culinary interests is using ingredients collected from the same place, or even all wild ingredients. It’s also exciting to imagine what native people would have prepared with no grocery store and only the rivers, fields, forest and garden to shop. Now this is not necessarily a native American recipe but it could be similar to something they may have prepared as berries and herbs were commonly used to season fish and game. Read more…

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