My social media feeds are increasingly featuring photos of huckleberry harvests and the creations made from them. The season is on. As I note this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, huckleberry season is short but sweet, so I always enjoy some now but save a few for the freezer. I tend to savor mine at breakfast—although I do go big when I pile any fruit on one bowl of homemade granola and fresh yogurt. I’ve taken sourdough starter into the backcountry so that I can dot pancakes with berries harvested at the campsite. Wild berries like huckleberries and blackberries are also delicious paired with homemade cheese and rolled into crepes.
Learn to make Huckleberry and Cheese Crepes
Category: fresh eating
Garlic Scape Aioli
Homemade mayonnaise—and my preferred version, garlicy aioli—is a different critter from Miracle Whip. It’s simply an emulsified sauce, combining egg and oil into a smooth, stable blend. Once you master the technique, seemingly complex, challenging sauces like hollandaise and beurre blanc become easy to whip up.
At its most basic, aioli pairs the rich flavor of olive oil and eggs and the pucker of minced garlic and lemon juice. Leave out the garlic and lemon, and you have a subtle yet creamy homemade mayonnaise. Herbs and other aromatics bump the blend in an even more flavorful direction.
In my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I share one of my favorite summertime aioli blends, with garlic scapes and lemon. An easy spin on that taste is to grill the lemon first, as I do alongside Grilled Asparagus, or roast or grill whole garlic cloves. Mince in a tablespoon of fresh dill, and you get one of my preferred garnishes for sushi. Homemade mustard or spice blends quickly change the profile. You can even use the aioli as the base for a scratch-made ranch dressing.
Learn to make Garlic Scape Aioli
Garden-Fresh Basil Pesto and Homemade Pasta
When I started this blog 6 years ago, one of the first recipes I shared was Basil Pesto Base, which I make in large batches in my food processor every time our basil plants threaten to flower and then freeze to use all winter. But recently, I had the chance to test mortars and pestles for The Spruce Eats and became hooked on the creamy texture of freshly pounded basil pesto. My reviews haven’t gone live yet on that website, but I couldn’t resist sharing the recipe and technique I developed during testing in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.
Once I had several batches of freshly pounded pesto, I also couldn’t resist trying my hand at scratch-made pasta. With some tips and tricks—and a hand-cranked, countertop pasta maker—homemade pasta turned out to be far less messy and far less difficult than I had anticipated, with tasty results that paired perfectly with creamy, mortar-pounded pesto.
Learn to make Garden-Fresh Basil Pesto and Homemade Pasta
Mega-Mint Mojito
In my Twice as Tasty blog post and column for the Flathead Beacon last week, I shared Strawberry Shortcake with Lilac Cream, one of my favorite treats for early-summer celebrations (like Twice as Tasty’s 6th birthday!). But I must admit that I tend to drink my desserts rather than eat them. So I would include this week’s recipe on the celebration menu too. It’s sweet enough to count as dessert in my book but simple enough to mix up for a spontaneous party—especially if you have a bottle of mint simple syrup stashed in your fridge.
As I note in this week’s Twice as Tasty column, you don’t really need a recipe to make simple syrup. But if you’re a by-the-book kind of person, I break down the steps here, along with tips and tricks for keeping it light and fresh.
Learn to make Mega-Mint Mojito and simple syrups
Creamy Balsamic Salad Dressing
If you want to look pro in the kitchen with minimal effort and little expense, a smart move is to make your own salad dressings. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, store-bought dressings are expensive and loaded with additives easily avoided in homemade blends. I eat salads almost daily in summer, but I never buy dressings and am convinced you don’t need to either.
Among the first recipes I ever published on this blog are my base blends for vinaigrette and creamy salad dressing. For one of my more popular workshops, I bring more than 30 ingredients to blend into personalized dressings. This week, I share one of my go-to combinations that builds on those basic ratios.
Learn to make Creamy Balsamic Salad Dressing and other vinaigrettes
Cooking Wild Mushrooms
Northwest Montana has a reputation as morel country—one that’s unfortunately being increased by extended wildfire “seasons.” But as I learned by talking with local forager Dale Johnson for my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, morel mushrooms also tend to crop up in areas thick with cottonwoods. So we’ve been looking closer to home for these flavorful fungi over the last couple of weeks. No luck yet—I’m suspicious that they’ll be in hiding from the near-freezing nights as long as my asparagus—but we’re keeping our eyes peeled.
Dale shared more than just tips on foraging for morels. He also offered up some of his favorite cooking techniques, many of which apply to all sorts of wild mushrooms. He emphasized how there’s so much water in mushrooms like morels that they will have the best flavor and texture if they’re cooked first and then hit with butter, soy sauce, cream, or other favored ingredients. I’ll be following Dale’s advice and grilling or dry sautéing our morel harvest.
Learn to cook with wild mushrooms
Indian-Inspired Shrimp in Yogurt
I snuck lots of fun kitchen ideas in last week’s blog post, including my streamlined recipe for Homemade Yogurt, all of the homemade ingredients I use when making the bean dip featured in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, and my favorite homemade dippers. If you found the lineup intimidating rather than inspiring, you’ll like the shrimp dish that’s in my column this week. If you’re a gardener, you’ll likely reach for homegrown onion and garlic; if you’re near coastal waters, you may be hauling up shrimp pots or buying directly from local fisherfolk. Otherwise, I use it to feature a single homemade ingredient: fresh yogurt.
As I mention in the column, plain yogurt is the most versatile, whether you’re making your own or buying it at the store. From one batch of plain yogurt, I can blend a serving into a smoothie, mix another with jam and top it with granola, and stir some into a savory bean dip or the sauce I use on shrimp, fish, or potatoes.
Learn to make Indian-Inspired Shrimp in Yogurt
Creamy White Bean and Yogurt Dip
Although I’m in the mood for spring, Montana’s weather hasn’t been cooperating: we woke up to 10 inches of fresh snow on Monday. So it seems appropriate that I’ve been making and sharing hearty bean recipes in recent weeks in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon and on Fifth Season Fresh. These recipes can pair some of my summer freezer stash or spring green goodness with filling beans in dishes that bring a bright pop of flavor and warm me down to my chilly toes.
For a quick filling bean snack, check out the dip in my Flathead Beacon column this week. In it, I talk about choosing quality ingredients for simple recipes like bean dip. To my mind, that means homemade yogurt.
Learn to make Creamy White Bean and Yogurt Dip plus Homemade Yogurt
Roasted and Curried Squash Soup
If you’ve yet to fall for squash soup, now’s your chance. There are so many directions you can take this soup: different varieties (including pumpkin), various spices and herbs, chunky or smooth. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, every spin you put on it changes the flavor.
I find squash soup most flavorful if you roast the vegetables, add spices and finishing touches at the cooking stage that maximizes their flavor, and puree the soup to remove any potential stringiness and ensure balance in each spoonful.
Learn to make Roasted and Curried Squash Soup
Panfish Piccata
The local fisherfolk I’ve seen out on the ice all winter inspired my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon. I prefer to fish in warmer weather, wading into a stream with a fly rod in hand. But each time I see someone on the ice, I’m tempted by the idea of a panful of freshly caught perch. I made due with tilapia when developing my recipe for Panfish Piccata, and the result was delicious even if you head to the freezer instead of the frozen lake for the main ingredient.
I like this technique for cooking fish on the stovetop because the flour cuts down on the oil splatters but isn’t as messy as breadcrumbs. It’s also a one-pan meal, with the sauce following the fish into the pan and picking up some of its flavor.
Learn to make Panfish Piccata
