Spring Pics/Food Porn

Spring Menu pictures by the wonderful Jennifer Moran.  Click HERE.  This last round of pictures made it one full year of her photographing my food.  I'm thrilled to have her capture it's beauty.

Turkey Hunting

My father wouldn't pull over to let me shoot the turkeys in the wide open field.  It just doesn't seem fair that we had to go into the woods, sit in a camouflage tent and wait when they are sitting there in the wide open as we drive past.  I suppose living in the City for 12 years now and hearing about drive-by shootings day in and day out it seems natural to me to just prop the shotgun out the side of the window and bam!  He says, "the  game wardens can search your vehicle with less evidence against ya than a police officer.  Shooting out of the vehicle is illegal."
So we sat, we waited, we called, they called back but they never arrived.  I have mixed feelings about hunting animals.  There is the side of me that collects the spiders from the house onto paper and gently nudges them out the back door or off the porch.  The side of me that stops for hurt pigeons on the side of the road and tries to nurse them back to health in my basement.  AND THeN, there is the side of me that wants to blow the turkey's head off.  Rip an arrow through the deer's heart.  Knock the ducks out of the sky one by one.  Two nights ago I watched "War Horse," and had serious trouble trying to contain my tears, practically weeping about how lovely this horse was and at the same time wondering what horse meat would taste like.  Well, I suppose I'm strange, fucked up, weird.  Whatever the case maybe when it comes down it in order of importance collecting, foraging, harvesting, and hunting my food is far more rewarding that picking it up at the grocery store or getting it delivered.  So that means hunting wins out. Did you know people hunt bears with Twinkies?
Well so I didn't get a thing.  Maybe it is the peace loving side of me that ruins my hunting for me.  Maybe it's that while my intention is to hunt I'm too loud and sidetracked by the beautiful flora that surrounds me.  My father says, "put that decoy in the open and then get back over here and don't move."  But on the way back over I spot a wild carrot to dig out, take note of the wild raspberry bushes, and kick the ground when I'm pissed to know how everything has come a month early this year and my REAL intention was to find morels while I was out here.
I often get asked where one can find different edible flora.  I made special note of Jasper-Pulaski if anyone wants to take the trek.  Area 13-fiddle heads, miner's lettuce, birch.  Area 7-burnt out, which means good for morels, fiddle heads, blueberries, pine.  Area 8-pine, wild raspberries, wild strawberries, wild carrots.
This game preserve is wild and abundant.  It's beautiful and peaceful, even with the gunshots ringing in the background.

Competition With Myself.

Upon leaving a guest recently commented, "Your food is so good I didn't think it could get better, but you continue to out do yourself.  How will you keep this up?"  I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  Actually, it takes up most of my head space.  Luckily I'm continually inspired by nature, the seasons, the works of others, songs, and most dangerously by plateware itself.  When a guest accidentally broke an heirloom owl umbrella holder it cracked in such nice pieces I said, "well, I guess I'll have to create a dish to serve on this."  And it's truly vicious for me to go to Chinatown, Sur La Table, or CB2.  I see something that will beautifully serve or hold food and think, that's a new dish.  These inspirations are what continues to drive the climb of my menus.
So this is what I have to do to trump myself.  I have to utilize more of my garden, more of the woods, more of myself and siphon it all into my preparations.  Here is an idea!  My father recently told me he seeds saved from vegetables he had grown in 1968 on our small farm.  He soaked them and planted them and they began to sprout.  Today I visited him and brought home some of those seeds.  The words banana musk melon and sweet Hungarian peppers were scribbled onto little browned pieces of paper tucked into the jars. Creating dishes from these seeds, which will hopefully sprout and fruit should help in this out doing myself project.  Seeds from the farm I grew up on from vegetables that grew 11 years before I was born, replanted and created into a dish to serve to my guests.  I think I will add elements to that dish directly from the woods.  We'll see if it works and if it does you can have it this summer.

Spring Menu-2012, More Accurate Rendering!

Bubble Tea

parsnip, licorice, swiss chard

Salad Sponge

honeys, homegrown, sorbets

Pierogi

yukon gold potato, truffle, mascarpone

Encapsulated

asparagus, egg, leeks

Tree Nest

squash, "eggs"

Tofu and Kimchee

1 pill makes you larger/ 1 pill makes you small

Carrots and Ramps

Scarborough Fair

Ebelskiver, cherry

Wisconsin Rice Crispy

curry, cauliflower, rose hips

Chocolate Dashi

basil seeds

Hanging

California

Built-A-Plate

DIY, sprouts, fish, puddings, gels, paint

Scallop

peas, yogurt, ham

Your Hand

Crawfish Centerpiece

Shrimp Noodles

Smelt

white chocolate, Blis products

Pho

owl mugs

Chicken Liver Mousse

clove, dark chocolate, pollen, pineau de Charantes

Wild Turkey

Jasper Polasky, foraged items

Lamb 

homemade cheese, fiddlehead ferns

Bacon Ice Cream Cone

Rhubarb

biscuits, strawberries, beets, farmer's cheese, sweetbreads 

Bites

So Lovely!

By Hunt. Gather. Love.  She talks up One Sister and Jen Moran.  Read here.

More Winter Menu Pictures

Pics by Jen Moran!

Spring Menu-Rough Draft

Bubble Tea
Parsnip, anise hyssop, swiss chard

Salad Sponge
homegrown, honeys, goat milk, sunflower

Pierogi
Yukon gold, white truffle, homemade mascarpone

Hanging
Aromas of California, rattlesnake

Encapsulated
Asparagus, ash, truffle, hollandaise

Tree Nest
Spaghetti squash, tomato and black pepper beads

Homemade Tofu
Konbu noodles, kimchee, homegrown mung beans

Smelt
White chocolate, blis maple syrup, roe, smoke

Build-A-Plate
Sprouts, puddings, gels, powders, paint, DIY

Bay Scallops
Peas, pistachio, yogurt

Your Hand
Oysters

Floral Centerpiece
Crawfish, foraged items, flowers

Shrimp Noodles
Scampi

Chocolate Dashi
basil seeds

1 Pill Makes You Larger, 1 Pill Makes You Small
cocoa nibs, mushrooms, chamomile, caramel, peacan

Scarborough Fair
Ebelskiver, goat, apple, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Pork Pho

Jasper-Pulaski
Wild game bird, morel mushrooms, grains, nettles

Dry-Aged Ribeye
Homemade ricotta and vinegar, ramps, fiddleheads

Ice Cream Cone
Bacon, Koval Whiskey, black pepper

Rhubarb
beets, short cake, sweet homemade farmers cheese

Bites
Chocolate