Fish cookery and smoked foods don't have to be labor intensive and intimidating. Our recipe for Maple Juniper Smoked Salmon uses a simple Native American technique to easily bring lightly smoked, delicately cooked, flavorful salmon to your table (and impress your wife with your pioneering skills)! For those of you with maples growing in your backyards, its time to break out the clippers! The fish is grilled on a bed of freshly cut maple twigs and leaves, which allows the fish to gently cook while wrapping it in aromatic smoke. The glaze uses juniper and maple syrup to produce a subtle sweet and piney flavor. When buying fish, we try to make sure it is sustainably harvested (or farmed). Ask at your local seafood store, they are usually very knowledgeable. This recipe is based on one of my favorite cookbooks: Food of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions by Fernando and Marlene Divina. If you are interested, check out some of our other seafood recipes.

This past weekend we had our first outdoor dinner party of the season and I had an edible centerpiece in mind while concocting this marinated feta with rosemary and juniper. This dish captures the soft light and open skies of an evening in early spring.  Marinated feta is a fresh take on a cheese course that delivers a surprising burst of lemon and woodsy flavor to salty cubes of feta.  We served marinated feta as an accompaniment to Paul's grilled Greek chicken and vegetables.  The leftover feta, which grows more flavorful as it sits, can be added to grain dishes, mixed into omelets, pureed into dips or stuffed into veggies.  The olive oil and herb mixture made a tasty addition to a salad vinaigrette, and would be delicious on pasta or used to sop up with crusty bread. 

There is something magic about fermentation.  Take two humble ingredients (cabbage and salt in this case), combine in just the right way with a hint of spice, shepard the development of specific microorganisims, and a week later you end up with a completely transformed product. The cabbage has softened in texture and flavor, the harsh sulfur notes in fresh cabbage have been rounded out and enlivened with a bright crisp sourness, with hints of earthy, piney spice. Sauerkraut is a traditional comfort food for many people and a health food for others. It is rich in vitamins and minerals, and (if unpasteurized) loaded with health-giving micro-fauna. It is equally at home slow cooked with pork or piled on a hot dog, added to tacos or eaten straight out of the jar.