Pacific Northwest bounty Articles

Lichtenberg Mountain Potato Bread

Sunlight dances among soft treetops of alpine fir, lifting a light morning mist to reveal Lichtenberg Mountain in all its glory. Even in August a smattering of snow still clings to its craggy crevices. In a final standoff with the clouds, the sun retreats to shade the mountain for a moment, and then bursts out […]

Marvelous Magical Fresh Morels

Some years ago while hiking with friends on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, I came across a band of people wandering through the forest. In their billowy clothes and long hair, they looked a little like wood elves as they meandered off the trail among the trees, occasionally dropping to take something from […]

Fried Dandelion Flowers

With his thinning hair, slightly paunchy figure and unassuming manner, my 10th grade biology teacher wasn’t the kind of guy to win a teacher-of-the year contest. But to a 16-year-old boy he held a certain fascination. Dr. Bob showed us how to smell (or not smell) the contents of an unmarked bottle: fanning his fingers […]

Greek Style Grilled Halibut

The waiter by the pool had the grace to blush as he told us we could expect little nightlife. The next morning we headed west, out onto barren stretches where the road gave way to cart tracks and herds of goats blocked the way. Near the northwestern edge, we sighed at the views across the sparkling Aegean, that stretched until forever. […]

Seattle Smoked Country Style Ribs

One sweet side effect of Seattle’s indistinct seasons is that there’s never a wrong time to barbecue. An old-timer brought it home to me some years ago:

Smokey Joe portable kettle barbecue

‘You’re doing what?’ I asked incredulously.

‘I’m gonna barbecue me up some re-ibs’. His accent was fake but the big […]

Wild Chanterelle Risotto

Morning mist rose off the Tiber as Mauro swung his little van onto the forbidden streets of our Roman neighborhood. Sunlight glistened at a low angle, highlighting every crack and crevice in the faces of 15th century tenements. Wheels clattered against cobbles and slowed.

‘It’s okay,’ he assured us, conspiratorially as he eased the van […]

Days of Bread and Apple Butter

We’re making apple butter this week at Chez Bullhog. The house smells of October: sweet and cinnamony with bright apple overtures and a background of toffee. To complete the effect, a faint haze of smoke hangs in the air, tinged with the smell of home baked bread. That sweet smoke coming from the woodfired oven […]

Doris Light Zucchini Bread

Here’s one of those recipes that pops out of my folder when I see burstingly fresh zucchini at the produce stand. It’s adapted from a recipe that’s been passed around in my family as ‘Doris Fenton’s Zucchini Bread’ for donkey’s years and so, when I cut half the oil from the original recipe and tweaked […]

Dungeness Thai Curry Pasta

I dip my paddle and pause in the late morning stillness. A hundred feet away a head emerges, dog-like and sleek, counterpoint to the barely rippled water. Moments later, as if by magic, another head appears. Two sets of dark mud-puddle eyes look at me for a few seconds and then, as quietly and mysteriously […]

Cozze Ripieni (Ligurian Stuffed Mussels)

Our green door with its dodgy lock opened onto a path with cobbles worn smooth by bathers going down to the sea. Mornings, we made the hike down to claim our Ligurian beachfront with colored towels and plastic buckets. Later, when the air had cooled, we made our way up the path to join the […]

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