Langdon Cook's Blog, page 19

Mountain Morels

Morel season is over, but at the Perennial Plate my new friends Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine have captured on video the thrill of the hunt and the lip-smacking toast of success that is a fruitful morel foray in a truly beautiful place. Check it out!


The Perennial Plate Episode 69: Mountain Morels from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Dept. of Horn-blowing

Here at FOTL headquarters we're pleased to announce a couple profile-raising media events of late. First, check out the September issue of Sunset magazine: "Digging for Dinner," page 80. The eight-page spread will tell you all you need to know to embark on a West Coast clamming adventure.

Second, take a peek at Daniel Klein's latest webisode (#68) of Perrenial Plate, featuring seaside foragers

Red Huckleberries with Chef Donald Link

New Orleans chef Donald Link (Herbsaint, Cochon) came to town last month to see what was happening in the Seattle food scene and film a few segments for his webcast Taste of Place on the Delish Channel. The chef wanted to spend a day foraging while he was here. Mid-July is actually an in-between time for the Northwest forager. Many of the spring greens have gone to seed and most berries are not

Telluride ShroomFest 31

The mushroom people came out in full force this weekend in Telluride, Colorado, to celebrate fungal magic in its many-splendored glory. This was my first trip to ShroomFest, now in its thirty-first year and one of the biggest mushroom gatherings in the country. As I've said before, the mushroom people, with their appreciation of the outdoors and nature, fondness for good food and wine, and

Resident Silvers

Over the years I've caught most of my salmon while standing either in a river or on a beach—I'm just too much of a cheapskate to hire a charter. Last week, though, with Hank and Holly in town, I took a rare opportunity to fish for salmon while standing on a boat. Here's the funny thing: I was standing on a boat within sight of a public beach where I sometimes stand with rod in hand for free.

But

Honest Food

I'm sure I don't have to introduce readers of this blog to Hank Shaw. Shaw is the proprietor of the Hunter Angler Gardener Cook blog, which has been nominated for numerous awards and garnered two IACP medals. He's also—full disclosure—a friend of mine. Now Shaw has a new book out which is taking the foraging community by storm. It's called Hunt, Gather, Cook, which is a pretty good description of

Geoduck Crudo with Wild Wood Sorrel

By now you know what a geoduck is. But what's a crudo? Besides being a hip culinary term that seems to be increasingly fashionable on both coasts, crudo means raw in Italian and is used to describe a raw fish dish that usually incorporates olive oil, sea salt, and some sort of citrus or vinegar.

For shellfish enthusiasts, a crudo is another way to enjoy the raw neck meat of a geoduck clam. In

The Gray Morel

I read somewhere recently that North America is the center of morel diversity on the planet. This news shouldn't surprise hardcore morel hunters in the New World, who already know firsthand about morels yet to be described in the scientific literature, some of which have funny common names like "bananas" and "pickles." The pickle, for instance, is a type of burn morel found late in the season

Horsing Around: Clam and Corn Chowder

Have I mentioned I'm originally from New England? Thought so. This simple fact gives me license to bitch about the lack of a decent clam shack in Seattle. Make that the West Coast. Sure, we have oyster bars like Walrus and Carpenter, Frank's, and Elliott's Oyster House. But I'm talking about clam shacks, the sort of place where a dozen oysters on the half shell can commingle peacefully with a

Forager's Double Header

Clam Bake with Hank & LangJoin author-foragers Hank Shaw and myself for a memorable day on the shellfish beds of Puget Sound. Bring a clam rake, not your pillow! We'll be digging limits of Manila clams and other bivalves to cook right on the beach.
Learn the finer points of shellfish habitat, identification, processing, and cuisine. You'll need a bucket, rubber boots, garden cultivator (either