Helping hunters, anglers and foragers make great meals since 2007.
Hank Shaw – Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook
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Recipe
Wild Rice Hotdish
Can you get any more Minnesota than wild rice hotdish? Pretty sure you can’t. This easy comfort food casserole is a hat tip to the North Star State, and can be made “wilder” with venison and wild mushrooms.
Italian
Red Pesto with Pasta
A simple recipe for red pesto, inspired by a similar pesto from Trapani in Sicily. It’s is a sun dried tomato pesto with roasted red peppers.
Mexican
Mexican Mixiotes
Mixiotes are Mexico’s version of foods cooked in parchment. It’s an ancient, versatile way to cook. Here’s a recipe and some tips and tricks to make them at home.
Popular Recipes
Venison
Venison 101: How to Cook Venison
A comprehensive look at how to cook venison that covers all types of venison and all cuts. Here’s a basic breakdown on what to do with your deer meat.
Foraging
How to Harvest Wild Onions
There’s a lot of talk out there about people overharvesting ramps, the most dominant wild onion in the East. Some of that talk is true. Here’s how to responsibly harvest wild onions of any sort, as well as how to prepare, store and preserve them.
Fish
Perfect Seared Fish
Searing fish perfectly is a skill any cook should have, especially if you catch your own fish. I’ve been cooking fish this way for close to 30 years, both professionally and at home. Here’s how to sear a fish, step by step.
Mushrooms
Morel Sauce with Venison
It’s morel season at last, and in celebration, I’ve revamped one of my favorite recipes for venison and morels. No fresh morels in your area yet? Use dried. They work fine in this recipe.
Hi, I’m Hank Shaw
I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!
Mushroom Recipes
Mushrooms are endlessly fascinating in the kitchen, whether they are wild or cultivated. Springtime is when the first edible mushrooms start showing, and morels are the star of the show. Here are some fun and tasty mushroom recipes for your harvest.
Mushrooms
Garlic Roasted Mushrooms
This is a simple garlic roasted mushroom recipe that works with any meaty mushroom, from porcini to shiitake to regular button mushrooms.
Mushrooms
Mushroom Tortellini
When life gives you mushrooms, make tortellini out of them. I love these little packets of love, and making them with wild mushrooms is especially lovely.
Mexican
Huitlacoche Quesadilla
A recipe for huitlacoche quesadillas. Huitlacoche, “corn smut,” is a mushroom that grows on corn, and is amazing cooked with chile and onion on a tortilla.
Mushrooms
Birch Bolete Bonanza
How to identify, harvest and cook the birch bolete, Leccinum scabrum. Birch boletes are edible, but best dried first.
Sweet Things
A selection of recipes for snacks and desserts featuring wild edible plants. You’ll find baked goods, ice creams, cookies and cakes, all using wild nuts and berries.
Mexican
Cucumber Agua Fresca
How to make a cucumber agua fresca with lime and a touch of salt. This is a great hot-weather drink that also uses up cucumbers if you have too many.
Sweet Things
Olive Oil Rosemary Cake
A recipe for an olive oil rosemary cake with pine nuts. This is an Italian cake that isn’t too sweet, and is great with preserved fruit and a little liqueur.
Sweet Things
Pine Nut Cookies
How to make pine nut cookies, pignoli, with American pine nuts — although any kind of pine nut works. These cookies have a touch of rosemary in them and are not too sweet.