Posts by Laurie Constantino - Laurie Constantino - Page 18

Mango and Feta Salad and Pan-Fried Scallops with Mango Salsa (Μάνγκο και Φέτα Σαλάτα & Χτένια με Μάνγκο Σάλτσα)

Fruit and cheese pair beautifully.

Pears and blue cheese, apple and cheddar, watermelon and feta: all are wonderful combinations.When I came across Mango and Feta Salad on Feeding Maybelle, I started craving it immediately. Feeding Maybelle is my Taste and Create partner this month.

Taste and Create is an event created and ...

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How to Harvest and Use Edible Spruce Tips (or Pine Tips or Fir Tips)

Spruce Tips Ready to Pick

Spruce tips are one of the more unusual, least used, and tastiest wild edibles in Alaska. Over the last few weeks, I picked a bucketful and had a great time playing and experimenting with them.

(I used spruce tips because they grow in my yard. Pine tips and fir tips are ...

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Pork Stuffed with Pork, Wrapped with Pork, and Sitting on Pork

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Chorizo, Lemon and Spinach

I hit the Taste and Create mother lode this month.Taste and Create is an event organized by For the Love of Food. In this event, food writers are paired with a randomly assigned partner, and asked to cook and review one recipe from their partner’s blog.

Taking part in Taste and ...

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Culinary Experiments with Devil’s Club Leaf Buds

I’ve always played with my food and eaten with my fingers. As a child, these habits got me into trouble. As an adult, they led me into the kitchen. There’s no more satisfying way than cooking to play with your food.

My favorite kind of playing with food involves foraging. Rooting ...

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How to Harvest and Use Devil’s Club

Blanched Devils Club Shoots

Devil’s club leaf shoots are the ultimate seasonal treat – they’re edible for only a few days a year and taste wonderful. They have a resiny, almost piney, odor when first picked that is tamed, but doesn’t dissipate entirely, when heated. Cooked devil’s club shoots have a uniquely energizing and ...

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How to Harvest and Use Fireweed Shoots

Fireweed After the Fire

Fireweed shoot season is upon Southcentral Alaska.

Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) grows along Alaska’s roadways and waste areas (and throughout North America as far south as California in the west and the Carolinas in the east). Spreading rapidly on underground runners, fireweed is one of the first plants to reestablish itself after ...

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