Sunchoke mash

This looks just like mashed potatoes, but it tastes like artichokes.

• 2lbs sunchokes
• salt
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• squeeze of lemon

Peel the sunchokes into cold water with lemon so they don’t oxidize. Once all of them are peeled. Place in a pot of cold water with 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes or until they are very soft. Drain off the water and mash (or puree) with the butter, heavy cream and salt to taste.

Brussel sprout and wild rice salad
Oh God — raw brussel sprouts! If you marinate them, they won’t have the same stomach upsetting qualities.

• 1lb brussel sprouts
• 1/2 lb hand harvested wild rice
• 3 lemons
• 3 tablespoons of mollasses
• 1 Tablespoon champaigne vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• salt

Thinly slice the brussel sprouts with a mandolin and add all of the other ingredients except the wild rice. Let sit for atleast 1 hour, but overnight would be even better. Place the wild rice in cold water and remove the small particles and shaft that comes to the surface. Replace the water. There should be three parts water to one part rice. Bring the rice to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Strain out the remaining water and let the rice cool. Mix with the brussel sprouts. THis would benefit from scallions, any dried fruit or toasted nuts, most herbs.

Celery Root Stuffing

• 1 large leek
• 1 celery root
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup of herbs – mixture of oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley. Minced (hold stems aside)

Cut a day old loaf of crusty bread into bite size squares. Dice one large leek and one celery root. Add 3/4 stick of butter to a pan and saute the leeks until soft, add the celery root, white wine and vegetable stock along with the stems of the herbs. Cook until the liquid has reduced by half.
In a sepperate pan, heat the 1/4 stick of butter until it is brown. Add the pumpkin seeds and sautee for one minute.
Combine and mix all the ingredients together in a caserole pan — except the minced parsley. Bake the stuffing at 350 for one hour. Remove and sprinkle with parsley.

SERVES 4-6 AS AN APPETIZER

Roasted Beets:

• 8 small chioggia beets and their tops
• 2 oranges
• 1 lemon
• 1 small bunch of thyme
• 1 head of garlic, split in two
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced

Duck Hearts:

• 12 duck hearts
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground and toasted fennel seed
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

1. Remove the beet tops. Wash the beets well and leave one aside. In a hotel pan or caserole pan, dress the beets in the juice of one orange, plenty of salt, the garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil. Cover with tin foil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees. After 40 minutes, stick a knife into a beet to see if they are done. They should be, but sometimes beets can take forever. Adjust accordingly.

1. When they are done, remove them from the oven and peel off the skins while they are still hot (if you let the beets cool, it will be a lot harder to remove the skin). Cut the beets into slices and pour the pan juice over the beets. Let the beets cool.

1. While the beets are cooking, wash and dry the leaves. Marinate them in the juice of one of one orange, the juice of the lemon, salt and olive oil. Set aside.

1. Also while the beets are cooking. Make a mixture of the salt, pepper, sugar and fennel. Toss the hearts in the salt mixture and set aside for an hour. After an hour, rince the cure off the hearts and dry them. Skewer the hearts and grill each to medium rare (about 1.5 minutes on each side). Slice the hearts into quarters.

1. Remove the beets from the liquid. Mince the marinated beet stems and combine with the beets and minced shallots. If its a little dry, use some of the two marinating liquids. At the last minute, toss in the quartered duck hearts. Garnish with a pile of julienned raw chioggia beet (no dressing).

A few notes: Normally you would cook the onion first, but I wanted to break down the mushroom and the nuts with the onion, I thought it would give it the taste and consistency of more of a grain dish. When I cooked this dish, I thought the pieces of nut were a little clunky and awkward to eat, so I suggest cutting them up into very small pieces and having a bit more porcini then I had in the video.

SERVES 4

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion (small dice)
• 1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)
• 1 cup porcini (diced)
• 1 porcini, sliced thin on a mandoline
• 1 small geoduck (1 1/2 lbs)
• 1/4 pound sea beans
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil

1. Saute the onion, mushroom and nuts in the butter on medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the onion has lost its crunch. Ask a question about this step.

1. Bring water to a boil and blanch the sea beans for 15 seconds, then submerge in ice water.  Bring the water back to a boil and cook the geoduck for just 10 seconds.  Wait a few minutes, then slice your knife along the edge of the geoduck shell to remove it.  Peel the skin off.  Slice the the neck into very thin pieces. With the body, chop into a small dice and add to the fricassee of nuts and mushrooms. Let cook for 1 minute, then add a tablespoon of Mirin and Rice Wine Vinegar. Cook for another minute to absorb the liquid.

1. Place the nut and clam mixture on the plate. In a separate bowl, toss the sea beans and raw geoduck neck and raw porcini slices with the walnut oil, mirin and vinegar. Garnish the nut mixture with the raw salad. Serve.

SERVES 4

• 10 ounces pasta
• 1/8 cup butter
• 1 large onion or 2 smaller spring onions, minced
• 2 cups sun gold tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons parsley, minced
• 1 tablespoon oregano, minced
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup shaved ricotta salata

Cook your past till al dente in a large pot of water that is heavily salted. Reserve a cup or two of the cooking liquid. Sweat the onions in half of the butter until translucent. Put onions in a large mixing bowl and add the tomatoes, parsley and oregano. Add a little of the pasta water to bring everything together. Combine the sauce with the cooked pasta, season well and garnish with the cheese

SERVES 4-6 AS AN APPETIZER

• 1/2 cup toasted almonds, sliced
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch carrot tops, leaves only, discard the stems
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup olive oil or enough to blend it all together into a thick pesto
• salt to taste
• 6 eggs

• For the pesto: Put the ingredients in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Blend it more than you would other pestos, you don’t want any big carrot leaves as they will get stuck in your throat. When everything is well broken up, add a little more olive oil to loosen it up so you can drape the pesto over your egg.

1. For the eggs: Cover the eggs with cold water in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil then shut off the heat, cover the pot and wait for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, submerge the eggs in ice water. Wait another 10 minutes then peel the eggs and cut into quarters. Place quartered eggs on a serving dish and drape with the pesto.

SERVES 4-6 AS AN APPETIZER

Crab and Cactus Tacos:

• 4 crabs
• 3 dried ancho chiles
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 small bunch oregano
• salt
• 2 smaller cactus pads (nopales)
• olive oil
• 1 lime
• 1 small sweet onion
• 1 guajillo chili pepper
• a big bunch of nasturtium flowers and leaves
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro

1. Bring a pot of water to boil with the ancho chiles, garlic, yellow onion, juice of one lemon, black pepper, oregano, and salt. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes then bring it back to a boil and add the 4 crabs. Cook for 8-10 minutes, the crabs should turn a bright orange.

1. You can shock the crabs in an ice bath or leave them to cool. Crack the legs and body and remove the crab meat from each of the crabs. Make sure to use your fingers to sift through the crab, its easy to get shell mixed in.

1. Mince the sweet onion and dice the guajillo chili and set them in a small bowl. Use as much or little of the chili as you like, depending on your preference for spiciness. Add the juice of one lime and leave the mixture to marinate.

1. Remove the prickers from the cactus pads with a knife. Rub with olive oil and salt. Grill until nicely charred. Dice.

1. Dice the nasturtium flowers and leaves. Combine with cactus, lemon, cilantro, onion, salt and the crab. Don’t add your lemon juice all at once, add to taste – you don’t want to overwhelm the crab meat.

1. Serve on a warm corn tortilla with tomatillo salsa.

The Fastest and Easiest Tomatillo Salsa:

• 4 tomatillos
• 1 yellow onion, halved
• 2 jalapeños
• salt
• 1 lime

1. Grill tomatillos, onion, and jalapeños until charred and cooked through. Put in the blender. Season with salt and a little lime juice

SERVES 4-6

Heart and Marinade:

• 1 heart (pig or beef)
• 5 tamarind pods
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

1. To break down a heart: Cut it down the middle and remove the ventricles as well as the valve on top. These will be chewy, you can identify them easily as they are the tubes running through the center of the heart. Once the ventricles have been cut out, slice the heart as thin as possible.
2. For the marinade: Peel the tamarind pods and place in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce by half, break apart the seeds so the tamarind pulp gets into the liquid. Let cool completely. Strain out the seeds and mix all the ingredients together. Pour over the beef heart and refrigerate overnight.

Salad:

• marinated heart
• 1 cucumber, sliced into rounds
• 2 spring onions, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
• 1 grapefruit, juiced
• salt

1. Simply grill the heart pieces on medium-high heat for about a minute on each side, developing some nice char. Once grilled, chop into bite size pieces and toss with the other ingredients. Serve.

Ceviche is just about the easiest thing to make out there, and to such amazing results. What you are doing is cooking the fish with acid (usually lime juice, but you can use lemons or even vinegar). There are as many alternatives to this dish as there are herbs, spices, pickles and fish out there. So ceviche is fun. Use almost any fish, shrimp or crustacean… most work really well. Just make sure it is fresh and from a sustainable source. We were using sheepshead fish – which I hadn’t had before, but it was very mild. It kind of reminded me of sea bass. Anyways, be creative with your ceviche or use what you have in your garden or the fridge. Here’s the recipe for ours.

SERVES 2-4

• 1 pound fish, cut up into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup minced mint
• 1/2 cup minced basil
• 3 limes
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
• 3 spring onions, diced
• salt to taste

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, wait five minutes (the longer you wait, the more your fish will be cooked). The texture will change as it sits. I only like a few minutes, I want to hold on to the raw texture. Serve chilled. Great on toast or a tortilla chip (isn’t everything?)

This kale is amazing, it can be cooked or eaten raw. But the ribs of the kale make it perfect for holding the creamy dressing. This rich dish turns the raw food into something very hearty.

SERVES 6-8

• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 bulb spring garlic, minced
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced sage
• salt to taste
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 pound bacon
• 2 bunches kale

1. For the dressing: In a food processor, combine the feta cheese, vinegar, garlic, egg yolk and honey and blend. Slowly add the grapeseed oil with the food processor running until it is emulsified. Add the olive oil and salt accordingly. You don’t want it to be too thick. Add a little water so it is more of a salad dressing consistency, not mayo. You can also loosen it with more vinegar if it is not acidic enough for you. Add the sage at the end for a flecked green look and further depth of flavor.
2. For the eggs: Cover the eggs with cold water in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil then shut off the heat, cover the pot and wait for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, submerge the eggs in ice water. Wait another 10 minutes then peel the eggs and slice or mince them.
3. For the bacon: I used a chili cured bacon, but you can use what ever you want. Cook the bacon until crispy (rendering out the fat), then chop into small pieces.
4. Remove the stems from two bunches of kale. Tear into bite size pieces. Toss the kale in the dressing and garnish with the minced egg and bacon. Serve.

As with all my recipes, don’t rush out to the store to buy anything in particular. Use what you have. Catfish doesn’t need to be marinated, it doesn’t need sage, but it can add a little something. Sage is a warm spice, but I think it works wonders in a fresh food setting. It’s a bit of a surprise.

SERVES 4

For the catfish:

• 4 6-ounce pieces of catfish
• 1/4 cup minced fresh sage or marjoram
• 1/2 tablespoon crushed black pepper
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon red chile flakes

1. Mix together the ingredients and rub into the fish, leave it in the fridge in a bowl for about 2 hours. Remove from the fridge, bring to room temperature and grill for about three minutes on each side.

For the kohlrabi slaw:

• 2 large head of kohlrabi, peeled and julienned
• 1/2 red onion or 2 spring onions, finely diced
• 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup minced sage or marjoram
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground toasted fennel seed

1. I’ve included an ingredient list. But a slaw is pretty personal. Some people like a lot of vinegar, others like to just have the crunch. Adjust this recipe according to your personal taste. Serve alongside grilled catfish.