Hank Shaw's Blog, page 73

Fish Tacos

If you live in California, this is a baseline fish recipe with most anglers. Everyone has a personal version of it, and pretty much anything you catch will work in a fish taco, although I used halibut here. My version uses a little salsa verde and avocado.

Spring Risotto

It should be obvious by now how much I love spring onions in all their forms. This light, lovely Italian rice dish highlights whatever wild or store-bought green onion you have on hand, spiked with fresh spring green herbs.

Offshore Fishing and Cooking School

Join me for an offshore fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico where we search for everything from grouper to cobia to wahoo and tuna. You'll catch, I'll cook -- and show you how to get the most out of these awesome fish.

Venison Stew with Wild Greens

A Greek-inspired venison stew slowly simmered with all sorts of wild greens, from dandelions to lamb's quarters to wild fennel, amaranth, orache -- really whatever you can find. Of course this is also great with turnip or mustard greens, kale or collards, too.

Fried Morel Mushrooms

Fried morels. Where have you been all my life? Seriously. I have eaten morels for decades, but only recently have I experenced the glory of the fried morel. I am not looking back.

Ramp Pesto

Wild onions, ramps especially, make a great pesto. This is my version, which is pretty classic -- but you can play with pesto a lot, changing the nuts, cheese and herbs at will.

Cajun Turtle Sauce Piquante

This is a Cajun classic, often done with alligator, but equally good with snapping turtle, which is what I used here. Sauce piquante is a bit of a mash-up between gumbo and an etouffee.

Pickled Cauliflower, Italian Style

When I was growing up, I thought “antipasti” meant pickled cauliflower, carrots and onions because that's what was served in the old-style Italian joints I ate in. Well, I managed to recreate the recipe for their pickled cauliflower here.

Fresh Pea Gnocchi

This is about as springtime as it gets. Fresh garden peas, served with light-as-air gnocchi made with pea puree, tied together with a little butter and cheese. Just a lovely light supper.

Fennel Salami

Fennel salami, finocchiona, is an Italian staple. There are lots of variations on this salami, but they all require a decent addition of fennel seeds. My version has wild fennel seeds, fennel pollen and ouzo.